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Topic: 24 hour countertop proof results.... (Read 3984 times)

Fantastic....I used Peter's version of Tom Lehman's recipe (noted below) and had great results. Using the recipe below I ended up with a moister ball than expected. Although still stiff, it formed a nice satiny ball after mixed using a Kitchen Aid Pro with a spiral hook. Proofed for 24 hours on the counter top and rolled out real nice and rolled the endges up for a lip and par-baked for 6-7 minutes. Came out very crispy and bubbly. Cooled and pressed down any big bubbles, brushed with an olive oil/garlic clove emulsion and topped with sauce, vidalia onions, mushrooms, homemade venison italian sausage, and bacon and pepperoni that were previously cut into strips and browned and drained. All and all one of the best ones yet. Finished crust was thin and crispy and yet had a nice sturdy chewy character to it also and had almost a beer/winey flavor to it. 5 adults couldn't finish this big 16-17 incher so still had enough to make the 'Breakfast Of Champions"...cold pizza ;-)Jon

Actually I don't remember. I got a big bag of it at the restaurant depot and mixed it with about 25% shredded parmesan and bagged in batches and tripple wrapped in reynolds plastic wrap and froze it. Just bought some citric acid and rennet drops and will be trying my hand at homemade mozzerella and see how it comes out.Jon

bagged in batches and triple wrapped in Reynolds plastic wrap and froze it

I have never frozen cheese, but am interested in it in the future.

Would you speak a little of your experience with freezing cheese. The results on the quality of the frozen cheese as compared to using it out of the package. And any pit falls to avoid if I use the technique.

I bought 2 7lb loaves of Grande several months ago... shredded a lot, sliced of big chunks and put them all in ziploc freezer bags (trying to remove most of the air). I've even thawed pieces and re-frozen and thawed again (although you get some moisture buildup doing that). I can't really tell the difference. I'm sure with fresh mozz it's different but dry cheese seems to have no problem with it.

A while back I bought a Grande shredded blend of whole-milk mozzarella and Provolone and froze quantities of it in storage bags using my Food-Saver vacuum system. I couldn't detect any significant differences from the unfrozen cheese blend. The frozen blend was more compact (no doubt due to the vacuum process) but I was able to separate the "shreds" adequately enough for my purposes when time came to use the defrosted cheese.

Freezing in chunks is better than shredded obviously. When freezing shredded I put in baggy and squeeze out as much air as possible and then 2 more tight wraps of Reynolds plastic wrap. Try to use within 2-3 months or it will start to dry out. By the way I think the brand I bought was Stella or something like that. Not the greatest but very much OK.Jon

Everytime I find a god one I forget which kind it was by the next time I have to get some. Part of that OPD (old people disease). I usually like a mozzerella, provalone and parmesan mix, sometimes some good extra sharp cheddar on top is great too.